In a farewell message to former Creative Loafing (Atlanta) editor Ken Edelstein, staffer Mara Shalhoup writes: "I think I speak for everyone here when I say, 'Thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for working me hard. And thank you for making Creative Loafing aim higher. You will be missed.'" Edelstein, who had been with the paper for a decade, was fired last week after a reportedly "heated meeting" with CEO Ben Eason on implementing editorial cuts.
Andisheh Nouraee submitted his resignation to publisher Luann Lebedz just hours after Lebedz fired editor Ken Edelstein yesterday, Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy reports. Nouraee, who began freelancing for the paper in 2000 and joined the staff in 2007, says his decision was prompted only in part by Edelstein's dismissal. "What happened today is just one symptom of the overall reason, that I don't want to work there full-time anymore," he says. His last day will be Dec. 5.
Ken Edelstein was fired today after a decade as an editor at Creative Loafing's flagship paper, according to Atlanta Magazine's Steve Fennessy. Edelstein reportedly had a "heated meeting" last week with CL CEO Ben Eason over the implementation of further editorial cuts. "The meeting made it clear that Ben and I have very deep philosophical differences about what's best for the company and its employees," Edelstein tells Fennessy. More from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"Friday was a rough day at the Loaf, perhaps even rougher at our new brethren papers in Washington and Chicago," writes Creative Loafing (Atlanta) editor-in-chief Ken Edelstein. "In Atlanta, we laid off four sales people, a marketing assistant, a sales assistant and our wonderful assistant distribution manager." He adds that the six-paper company is going through the same sort of difficult transition that's hitting other media companies, before noting that his paper's online readership continues to grow. "How that audience growth translates into ad dollars is the business question that [CEO] Ben [Eason] and the folks on the sales side of our business are going to have to grapple with for a long time -- and continuously."
For the first time, Seven Days was named Vermont's best non-daily newspaper, beating out 59 other non-dailies in the annual competition. The alt-weekly also won six writing awards. "We've clearly grown from being just 'that arts paper' over 10 years," says co-publisher Pamela Polston.
Ken Mayer, a freelance critic for The Reader in Omaha, Neb., was one of 25 critics, editors and reporters chosen as fellows in the second annual National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera. The institute, which offers intensive training to arts journalists working outside the country's major media markets, will take place at Columbia University in New York City from October 16-27.
Scott Walsey, publisher of Creative Loafing (Atlanta), will leave the paper at the end of the year, reports CL editor-in-chief Ken Edelstein. Walsey has been at the paper for 26 years, and has served as its publisher since the 2000 merger between Weekly Planet and Creative Loafing, Inc. "He's provided employees with leadership, stability and a great sense of humor," writes Edelstein. "[Walsey is] a wise and decent person who did things like remind folks to place family and friends above work." CL's next publisher will be Scott Patterson, an experienced newspaperman who has published dailies, community papers and shoppers.
Ken Stocker comes from Denver's Westword to the Riverfront Times, on a mission to raise public awareness of the alt-weekly and thereby boost sales. The 12-year New Times veteran has a green sales staff, but he's convinced the paper is "poised and ready to make a big push." He replaces Terry Coe, who resigned from the Riverfront Times after 17 years.
Alternative newsweeklies across the country have bucked the trend of unquestioned support for the president and the new war in Afghanistan. They’ve also paid the price for their criticism, with retribution ranging from yanked ads to death threats.
